Chapter 114: The Beast Tide Rises

Gunshots thundered through the narrow corridor in a deafening roar.

Bullets tore through the remaining vines and ripped massive chunks of concrete from the walls, sending up a blinding cloud of dust and debris that filled the air and stung the eyes.

Ethan immediately pulled Tessa backward into the safety of the Survival Space. The portal closed just as a wall of lead swept past the spot where they had been standing. He raised his hand and activated Spatial Cut.

Black fissures opened in front of him inside the space, swallowing the incoming bullets before they could pierce the threshold. Then he launched a counterattack.

A dense cloud of black mist burst from his palm.

Breath of Corrosion.

The corrosive mist rolled through the widening gap in the doorway and engulfed the nearest soldier. The man’s military uniform began to disintegrate into black sludge within a fraction of a second. The fabric melted away, and the skin beneath it started to bubble.

But before the chemical corrosion could spread further into his flesh, the glowing red mark on his forehead suddenly flared with blinding intensity.

Ethan’s eyes widened.

"Get back!"

The soldier’s body expanded violently. A massive, devastating explosion ripped through the corridor, throwing burning chunks of vines and jagged concrete in every direction. The shockwave slammed against the Survival Space’s barrier, creating ripples of light across the air and shaking the ground under Ethan’s feet.

A second explosion followed instantly. Then a third.

The marked soldiers were detonating themselves one after another, turning their own bodies into living suicide bombs. Each blast lit the corridor in a brief flash of red and white before the smoke rolled back in. Ethan stood inside the space, his breathing heavy as the shockwaves continued to rattle the barrier. His chest ached from the concussive force, and his spatial energy had nearly run dry from the sustained exertion.

He forced himself upright, reached into his storage, pulled out a high-tier mutant Core, and swallowed it. Raw power flooded back into his body, easing the internal pain and rapidly replenishing his exhausted reserves. The ache in his ribs faded enough for him to stand straight.

Through the monitoring screen he watched the chain of explosions continue outside. The Blood Vines were being blown to pieces, their stems torn apart and scattered across the floor. The mindless soldiers did not care about their own survival. They kept advancing out of the smoke, their bodies glowing an ominous red right before each detonation. The red marks on their foreheads pulsed brighter with every step.

Ethan’s expression grew colder than ice.

General Nash still had not appeared anywhere in the facility. There were only two logical possibilities left. Either General Nash was actively working alongside Dr. Cross, or she had already quietly overthrown the command structure and taken control of the entire underground shelter from the shadows. Neither possibility offered any comfort.

And Ethan had a more immediate crisis to deal with. Though the corridor was choked with smoke, the Blood Vines were already beginning to regenerate from the floor debris. Fresh green stems pushed up through the ash and blood, thickening as the crimson light returned to them. If he remained trapped inside the dormitory indefinitely, the situation would only deteriorate. He needed to find a way to break the regional spatial restriction or hunt down the source of Dr. Cross’s power.

However, neither Ethan nor Dr. Cross noticed a strange phenomenon occurring in the smoking corridor.

The scattered, blood-soaked remains of the exploded soldiers were no longer lying on the floor. Instead, their physical remains were rapidly dissolving into thick, unnatural streams of crimson mist. The mist seeped silently into the floor grates, passed through the shelter’s massive air-filtration system, and drifted upward toward the surface vents. The cold night wind caught the drifting vapor, carrying it far away from the military district and out into the ruins of the city.

Far to the south, near the destroyed Museum, the massive Snake King suddenly stopped moving. It had been locked in a ferocious, ground-shaking battle with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, its gargantuan, scaled body coiled tightly around a shattered section of elevated roadway. The Snake King abruptly released its opponent, rearing its massive head high into the air. Its golden vertical pupils narrowed sharply toward the distant northern district. Its forked tongue flickered rapidly against the cold night air.

Something in the wind had caught its primal attention. A strange, foreign energy. One that stirred an ancient, hungry instinct buried deep within its evolved monster mind.

The Snake King remained motionless for several long seconds, seemingly weighing the distance. Then it abruptly turned away from the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its enormous body surged forward, heavy scales glinting beneath the moonlight as it began slithering toward the North City Military District with terrifying, unnatural speed. The ground trembled under its weight.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex let out a deafening roar of confusion and challenge. The sound shook the surrounding concrete buildings to their foundations. It watched the Snake King disappear into the northern darkness before charging aggressively after it, its heavy, earth-shattering footsteps pounding against the cracked asphalt.

Elsewhere across the ruined city, other mutant animals began emerging from abandoned buildings, dark alleys, and collapsed subway tunnels. Packs of mutant dogs lifted their snouts to the wind, their eyes reflecting the distant red glow. Thousands of blind bats poured out from darkened rooftops in a black cloud, their wings beating in unison as they turned north. Countless other creatures abandoned their individual hunting grounds and began migrating in the exact same northern direction.

Something powerful and irresistible was drawing them toward the North City Military District. And as the thick crimson mist continued to spread silently through the night air, the gathering horde of monsters grew larger by the mile. A massive new beast tide was forming in the dark.

This time, its final destination was the military base. And the humans trapped inside had no idea what was heading their way.